Filed under: Hull City, Bristol City, Championship, Football, Remember When...
A little over two years ago they were locked in a £40 million winner-takes-all shoot-out for the Premier League. Now they're scrapping it out to avoid the drop into League One. How quickly times have changed for Hull and Bristol, a sobering tale of two cities.It was meant to be the most valuable goal in Hull City's history. It turned out to be perhaps the most costly. Little could Dean Windass have imagined the seismic chain of events his 38th-minute Wembley winner would trigger on that sunny late spring afternoon back in 2008.
It was a crisp volley that ensured his hometown club took their place in the top flight for the first time in their 104-year history. Now 41 and working as one of Sky Sports' rather less well polished reporters, shall we say, Windass reckoned just about the whole of Hull must have turned up to see his epic strike, and he wasn't far wrong.
He said: "It felt unbelievable. I don't think there was anyone left in Hull looking at how many supporters we had. To score the wining goal was fantastic. We worked hard from the start of the season and got our rewards." And how about a word from his proud mum, Doreen? "I'm just on cloud nine, so proud," she said. "I knew that he'd end up at Wembley and, well, I'm 50 foot tall, I'm so proud."
Improbably, within a few months Hull were sat in a Champions League place after notable victories at Arsenal and
Tottenham as perma-tanned Phil Brown's side took the top flight by storm. The future's bright. The manager's orange.
It couldn't last. It didn't. They managed to avoid relegation in 2008-09, only thanks to other results on the last day, but clearly they had been found out. They threw money after mercenaries from home and abroad who barely knew where Hull was, running up huge debts in the process in a bid to retain top flight status for a third season.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2010/12/15/remember-when-dean-windass-starred-in-a-sobering-tale-of-two/
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